


A (Father's) Promise

by seekrest



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, the author is feeling MOODY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 03:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18792466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest
Summary: Tony had a lot of regrets in his life. Almost too many to name.But making the kid feel like he was on his own, leading him to taking down a plane of Tony’s tech by himself – haunted Tony... His hands haven’t stopped shaking, his own words yelling at him, still coming back to torture him."If you died, I feel like that’s on me."





	A (Father's) Promise

“You alright there, kid?”

Tony turned, searching for where Peter could be. They hadn’t anticipated getting caught up in some kind of issue – they were just heading out for lunch, a _normal_ damn day for once – when FRIDAY had alerted him of unusual energy readings on the corner of Park and 29th.

Tony had directed the kid to focus on the civilians, to get them as far away as possible from the guy with some alien tech who either had a vendetta against a barista or – more likely, in Tony’s mind – had gotten more than what he bargained for with this particular piece of hardware.

As Tony sent a final blast in the direction of where the guy was running, a warning shot right in front of his intended path, he wondered if the kid still felt guilty about the “Vulture” – _ridiculous damn name_ – and that his tech was still getting out into the general public.

* * *

Tony had a lot of regrets in his life. Almost too many to name.

But making the kid feel like he was on his own, leading Peter to taking down a plane of Tony’s tech by himself – haunted Tony.

He hadn’t meant to be so harsh. Hadn’t meant to make Peter feel like he didn’t have backup. Tony had only wanted to give him a lesson, impress upon Peter the importance of the work he was doing.

He should’ve known – even then – that the kid took his heroism to heart. Should’ve already accepted that the kid would, without hesitation, throw himself into chaos if he thought he could prevent it.

Tony will never forget the phone call he got from Happy, a snapshot of the idiotic Vulture webbed up next to burning wreckage.

He could still remember the panic – the anxiety of finding Peter, bloodied and disoriented, on some roof outside of Queens.

* * *

“Kid, you alright?” Tony stepped out of the suit and put his hands up, wanting to rush forward but hesitating.

Peter was injured, dressed up in that ridiculous onesie that he had made himself.

 _What the hell you were thinking, kid?_ Tony thinks it but doesn’t say it. Can’t bring himself to berate the kid when Peter looked like he barely holding on to consciousness.

“Saved the plane, Mr. Stark.” Peter’s sitting against the roof’s edge, knees up as he looks wearily toward Tony.

“Yeah, that you did, kid. You doing okay? You’re not bleeding out or anything, are you?” Tony cringes at his own sarcasm, a half-baked attempt at easing the tension on the rooftop. Peter just stares back at him, a blank expression on his face.

“I’m fine, Mr. Stark. Just give me a second.”

Tony’s face turns into a grimace as he watches the kid try to get up, Peter clearly in pain. Tony wishes he was in the suit so he could have FRIDAY do a scan of the kid’s injuries, get a proper assessment of what he was dealing with – but the look on the kid’s face made Tony stop.

Unlike their last encounter, when the kid had been full of rage, anger, and then disbelief that Tony had actually _been there_ , the kid seemed to have no emotions at all – save for vague irritation of whatever pain the night’s ordeal had caused him.

“Kid, you’re clearly not fine. Let me help.” Tony takes a tentative step forward, Peter halfway leaning up from his previous stance. Peter waves his hand to brush Tony off.  

“I—I’m fine. I promise, I just need—” Peter lets out a sharp gasp as he tries to stand, Tony rushing forward, hesitation gone.

“You’re _not_ fine and if you tell me that one more time, I—” Tony stops himself. The kid’s almost out of it, not even trying to push Tony away.

“Hey, hey—look at me Peter.” Tony grabs Peter’s chin, more roughly then he intended. Peter’s eyes drift in and out of focus.

“Why’d you do it, kid? I-I took the suit. You didn’t…” Tony isn’t even sure of what he’s trying to say, but the kid seems to understand.

“Can’t let the bad things happen, Mr. Stark. Mr. Toomes was gonna get hurt, he was gonna—” Peter trails off but Tony places a hand on his shoulder, bracing the kid. The memory of the kid saying the same thing not even six months ago, back before Tony roped him into something he never should’ve.

Tony really shouldn’t be surprised that the kid had gone out tonight. He was doing it long before Tony had waltzed into his life.

“Doesn’t matter, kid. I’m… I’m sorry, Peter. I shouldn’t have.. I should’ve…”

Tony can tell his words are lost on the kid, the night’s events catching up to him.

As he asks FRIDAY to send a car, tells FRIDAY to alert medical, Tony is convinced that he’ll never let this happen again.

He had tried everything he could to prevent the kid from getting hurt. And Tony, inadvertently, had caused it anyway.

As he led Peter to the car, the kid limping as he placed him in the backseat, Tony promised himself that he’d never let Peter have the chance again.

* * *

Tony had put in a lot of work since then, in addressing the kid’s need for validation – a need that Tony knew wasn’t out of place. He promised himself that no matter how much he worked ‘behind the scenes’, that he would work better on communicating with the kid – affirm to Peter that he was listening, that he was there.

They didn’t need another ferry debacle, another plane crash on the beach. Another event that caused a broken teenager needing to be fixed.

Which is why, as Tony sent restraints to the now frantic third-rate criminal, he wondered why the kid wasn’t answering him.

“Stay down. You’re not getting out of those cuffs anytime soon.”

The guy struggled anyway, causing Tony to roll his eyes.

“We didn’t mean to blow up the place, man! We— were just trying to get some quick cash!”

“Sure thing Danny Ocean, tell that to the cops.” Tony looked to his left but couldn’t see the kid, Peter – anywhere.

“Hey, you see Spider-Man before you lit up the place?” The guy shook his head furiously, still trying to move away from where Tony’s restraints had locked him down.

“N-no man, I’m telling you. I wasn’t tr-trying to do anything! We just—”

Tony waved his hand dismissively.

“Yeah, okay I get it. You’re innocent. FRIDAY, ETA on the cops arrival?”

“They are approximately two blocks away, boss.” Tony turned to the guy on the floor.

“Cops will take care of you from here. Do me a solid and _don’t_ try to run off? I got better things to do than chase after you for holding up a Starbucks.”

The guy seemed resigned, nodding as the sirens approached.

Tony put his face to the sky, focused now on the other end of his comms.

Most noticeably, the silence.

“Kid? You doing backflips in some alley again? Where you at?”

He flew up above the buildings, glancing around as FRIDAY – already following his unspoken request – started scanning the surrounding area.

“Anything, Fri? I can’t seem to place him.” Tony wasn’t worried per se, the guy with the juiced-up pistol hadn’t even done enough damage necessary to evacuate the building but Tony – in an overabundance of caution – hadn’t wanted Peter anywhere near the danger.

* * *

It hadn’t been something he planned, getting so attached to the kid. At first, it was just to keep watch – just to make sure the kid didn’t accidentally get himself killed, as Peter clearly had no sense of self-preservation whatsoever.

No teenager ever really did but combine that with his actual superhuman healing abilities, Tony sometimes wondered how the kid had survived for as long as he did.

The attachment had started in some German airport. Only magnified since that night on the beach.

Now it had evolved into something Tony wasn’t a hundred percent comfortable with admitting, would likely deny if anyone dared to bring it up.

Rhodey had half-hinted that it was more than just a professional mentorship, even Pepper admiring how much Peter’s presence had softened Tony.

He cared for the kid. Was invested in seeing him grow up, in seeing him do better. In being better.

Now barely a year since they first met, Tony knew that his own well-being would forever be linked to the kid’s.

It wasn’t his fault the kid was just so damn endearing.

* * *

It was that endearing nature that Tony was relying on, betting that the kid had just gotten distracted by some civilians, wasn’t responding because he was too busy posing for selfies or something equally PR friendly.

 _If I could bottle your charm, kid._ Tony continued to hover over the area, scanning – and failing – to come up with anything.

“Where the hell did he go, Fri? Did he leave the area?”

“Found him, boss.”

FRIDAY was an AI that Tony specifically created to model human emotions, to respond appropriately in times of crisis.

Her tone perfectly resembled his own growing sense of dread, a worry and anxiety forming in the pit of his stomach.

“Where is he, Fri?” The urgency in his voice betraying any desire to stay calm. It had just been one guy, one souped-up gun. Tony had neutralized it. The kid couldn’t have gotten in trouble, Tony had made sure of that. This wasn’t the ferry. Wasn’t that night on the beach.

Right?

“He is on the roof behind you boss. Peter appears to be in distress.”

Tony whips around, flying immediately to where FRIDAY was indicating.

“What kind of distress?” Tony asks but he sees it before FRIDAY can respond. A sharp pain shoots through his chest, his stomach starting to churn.

Because there’s Peter, sitting against the side of the roof, clutching his side.

A pool of blood forming entirely too quickly underneath him.

_It’s the night after the beach all over again._

Tony wants to freeze. The world starts to go in slow motion as he lands on the roof, the suit dematerializing as he rushes toward Peter.

Peter, mask off, looking dazed – was barely sitting up. His legs were splayed out in front of him, the blood moved around from what appeared to be an attempt to hide behind the roof’s stair entrance. He looks up Tony and attempts to smile.

“Hey M’sr Stark.”

“Hey kid, you trying to get into abstract painting? I gotta say, I don’t think you should drop shop class just yet.” He tries to hide the panic in his voice, his resolve wavering as Peter’s gaze drifts over to the ground. Tony takes in the rest of Peter.

He sees the blood – too much, it’s everywhere – but focuses on the kid’s side, where Peter’s hand was clearly failing to stop the bleeding.

_It’s not the night on the beach. He’s fine. The kid is fine._

How had the kid gotten hurt? He was supposed to be handling civilians.

And then it hits Tony like a freight train.

* * *

_“We didn’t mean to blow up the place, man! We— were just trying to get some quick cash!”_

Two. There had been two wannabe thieves. Two idiots with weapons way above their paygrade.

As Tony took in Peter’s face – quickly becoming paler than what he was comfortable with – he beats himself over the head again for letting this tech loose, for letting these loose ends continue. For letting Peter once again face the brunt of his own inadequacy.

_I should’ve paid attention sooner, kid._

* * *

 

“Hey, hey kid you with me? What happened?” He kneels down beside Peter, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. The kid blinks, Tony panicking at how much effort the kid was making to focus.

“Ther’s anoth’r guy.” Peter slurs. He gives Tony a half-grin. “Webbed him up, Mis’r Stark.”

“I’m glad you did, kiddo but I think I remember giving you specific instructions to stick to the civilians.”

Peter tries to nod, his head barely moving.

“I did Mist’r Stark. He wa-was gonna shoot ‘em.”

If Peter wasn’t about to lose consciousness, Tony thought he might’ve strangled him.

“So… what? You asked him shoot you instead?”

To Tony’s disbelief, the kid seemed to affirm this. _You have got to be shitting me. Worse than the beach. What the hell is wrong with you, kid?_

“H-he didn’t get th’ chance. I got him to a wall.” Tony took a stabling breath, willing himself not to yell when all he wanted to do was scream.  

“Clearly not before he got you first.” He says through gritted teeth, putting his other hand on Peter’s other shoulder – trying, and failing – to right Peter.

In the two minutes they had been talking, Peter had started to slide down to his side. Tony had seen enough injuries to know that laying down after whatever blast the kid had endured would only make the kid tired.

As the kid’s blinks started to slow, Tony was adamant that the kid would not go to sleep. Terrified that if he did, that Peter wouldn’t wake up.

“Remind me to yell at you another time alright, kid? In the meantime, let’s get this mask on you and get you back to the Tower okay?” He briefly considered calling for a car but then Peter didn’t respond, the panic in Tony’s stomach threatening to reach his throat.

“Kid? Peter?” Tony shook Peter gently, afraid to cause the kid to bleed out any further. Peter’s eyes lazily opened then focused right on his.

“Let’s do lunch anoth’r time kay? I’m… tired.”

“No.” Tony’s voice was firm, loud enough for the kid to wince. “Naptime is cancelled, kid. Come on, stay awake for me. Let’s get to the Tower alright?” He looks frantically for the mask, wishing with all that was within him that Peter’s identity wasn’t still a damn secret. Wishing the kid had actually taken him up on his offer.

Then again, the kid got hurt by some punks with black market alien tech. Did he really want Peter facing “Avengers” level threats, whatever the hell the Avengers even were now?

Tony snatches Peter’s mask from the floor and hesitates before placing it over the kid’s head. Peter’s whole face is clammy now, paler than it had been even a minute before. Tony swallows down another wave of panic and shoves the mask over Peter’s head before he can think better of it. A car would take ten minutes at least, too long. They were going to have to fly.

“FRIDAY, alert medical. We’re on our way.” The suit materializes over him and he scoops Peter up in his arms. He’s surprisingly heavy, solid in a way Tony hadn’t expected from a kid that now looked so small.

As he flies off the rooftop, cradling Peter, keeping the place where he was bleeding out from close to his chest, Tony wonders why nothing had alerted him of the kid’s injury. How he had completely missed the kid getting shot.

“Come on kid, stay with me alright? Don’t you dare fall asleep on me Parker.” He jostles the kid, willfully making his hold uncomfortable to keep the kid awake. To Tony’s terror, the kid doesn’t respond.

“FRIDAY, how long till the tower?”

“You are only three minutes out, boss.”

“Get me there faster. Come on kid, don’t do this to me alright? We’re almost there.”

The kid is silent.

Tony panics.

* * *

The next few minutes feel like hours. Tony berates himself over and over again.

_Why didn’t I catch it sooner? Why didn’t FRIDAY alert me that you were in trouble?_

He’s frustrated that he has time to think, time to question why. Because he knows exactly why.

FRIDAY was an AI, intelligent and learning. But she couldn’t do what she wasn’t programmed to.

Tony hadn’t programmed her to alert him when they were in proximity to each other, arrogantly assuming that if he were in the same place as the kid – he could prevent anything from happening to Peter. Prevent another night on the beach.

As he lands on the balcony of the Tower, Tony kicks himself over and over again for his pride – his own words echoing over and over in his head as he rushes forward.

_If you died, I feel like that’s on me._

* * *

The medical team hasn’t arrived, much to Tony’s aggravation.

“FRIDAY, where the hell is medical?”

“They are on their way boss.”

“Tell them to hurry the fuck up!” Tony’s anger barely contained, his suit dematerializing as he gently lays Peter down on the floor.

The kid hasn’t moved, hasn’t so much as whimpered since they’re arrived. Tony actively tries to push what this could mean out of his head.  

“Come on, kid. We’re here, we’re at the Tower. Time to get you patched up, alright?”

Peter doesn’t respond. Tony’s heart clinches, moving his hand to take Peter’s mask off. _Not the beach. It’s not the beach._

The pit in his stomach fills with terror, the anxiety threatening to overwhelm him.

Peter’s eyes are closed, his face tinged grey.

“Peter? Peter, open your eyes. Come on kid, don’t do this.” Tony, hands shaking, checks the kid’s pulse. He can’t feel a thing.

Tony panics.

* * *

In a second, all he can think of is that night after the beach – the way Peter had been in so much pain, so hesitant to let Tony just how much.

They had been through enough since then, Tony thought he had remedied his mistake.

But as the kid lays there, still and unmoving – Tony’s own frantic heartbeat masking any attempt of searching for Peter’s – he wonders if all his work was just a little too late.

* * *

The doors burst open, the medical team finally arriving. Tony is frozen, stricken with the terror of Peter Parker bleeding out on his balcony.

“Take care of him! Don’t worry with me!” He shoves a medic away, a nurse’s eyes widening as she takes in the blood that has soaked Tony’s clothes. It’s misplaced attention, another set of hands that should only be focused on Peter.

As the team carts Peter away, a whirlwind of tubes, medical jargon, and calm professionals, Tony is stuck – kneeling in the same spot where Peter had been. Where Peter’s blood was still staining the floor.

Tony’s hands haven’t stopped shaking, his own words yelling at him, still coming back to haunt him.

_If you died, I feel like that’s on me._

* * *

Tony watched, muscles still tensed from the day’s ordeal.

It had taken a couple of hours for the kid to be stabilized, shorter than any normal person would’ve needed but not short enough to quell Tony’s anxiety.

“He’s going to be okay.” Pepper’s voice, clear but quiet, rings in the hospital room. She’s watching from the doorway, eyes drifting to Tony’s leg as it bounces up and down from the lounge chair he’s in besides Peter’s bed.

“You don’t know that, Pep.” Tony whispers.

“Every time – _every time_ – I try to help him, I somehow make it worse.” Pepper gives him a look, walking straight towards him. Tony won’t meet her gaze, his eyes focused on the steady breathing and beeping emanating from Peter’s beside.

He was breathing on his own now, medical still giving him oxygen to aid the healing process. Pepper comes up behind him, rubs his back in an attempt to be soothing. In another instance, it would be.

But with the kid still unconscious, Tony couldn’t let himself relax.

“You’re good for him, Tony. I know it, his aunt knows it.” She brings a hand to his cheek, Tony glancing up at her.

“And he’s good for you too, Tony. I have no doubt that you’re doing the best that you can. This was an accident, that’s all.” Pepper leans down and gives him a light kiss as Tony closes his eyes.

“I just feel like I could do more. I should’ve—should’ve prevented this.”

Pepper draws back as Tony watches. “You can’t prevent everything, Tony. None of us can.”

She looks over at Peter, saying, “We can only do what we can.” She looks back to Tony. “And you, Tony Stark, have never been one to do anything half-assed.” Tony laughs in spite of himself.

The sound is enough to cause the kid to stir, the first time Peter’s moved since they were out on that roof.

Pepper gives him another quick kiss before saying, “I’ll leave you two alone.”

As she walks out, Tony’s attention is diverted straight back to the kid – a pang of remorse running through him as Peter grimaces.

He knows Pepper is right, that Pepper is alright. But knowing it and believing are two separate things.

Tony watches as Peter’s eyes slowly blink open, focusing first on the ceiling before landing on Tony.

“Hey kid, how you feeling?”

Peter wets his lips, blinking a few times as if to shake the anesthesia off of him.

“Fine, I’m—fine. I’m okay.”

Tony sighs, exasperated at Peter’s stubbornness – his refusal to admit or show any pain.

Part of Tony wonders if it’s because the kid still doesn’t feel vulnerable with him, if Peter still felt the need to keep his guard up.

Then again, if Peter were anything like Tony – _God, I hope not_ – it may just be because he didn’t want Tony to worry.

_Too late for that._

“Kid, you were shot at with a blaster that’s not even from this galaxy. It’s okay to admit it if you’re not feeling too hot.”

Peter blinks slowly, taking a deep breath.

“I promise, I’m fine Mr. Stark.”

“If you say you’re fine one more time…”

“But I am Mr. Stark.” Peter smirks.  “Just a flesh wound.”

Tony rolls his eyes. “What’d I tell you about those pop culture references? I regret ever showing you that movie.”

“It’s not my fault that you’re _old_ , Mr. Stark.”

“You know, I’m going to let that one slide. Only, because you’re the one laid up in a hospital bed alright?”

Peter shifts, wincing as he tries to get up. Tony places a hand on the kid’s shoulder, causing to Peter to look up, surprised.

“Just stay down kid, relax. You’re okay. Your aunt’s just down the hall, should probably let her know you’re awake.”

Peter groans, letting Tony push him back down into a laying position.

“I’m going to be so grounded.”

Tony chuckles, giving Peter’s shoulder a soft squeeze.

“Won’t be that bad, kid. You’ll get a break for once, get to mess around like a normal teenage delinquent. Besides, don’t you have a little field trip coming up? The Met? This’ll give you time to _not_ get into any more trouble before you and your little nerd friends take on Manhattan.”

It’s Peter’s turn to laugh. “MoMa, not the Met. Gotta say, just a _little_ creepy how well you know my schedule, Mr. Stark.”

“Yeah well, someone’s gotta keep an eye out for you.” Tony goes to stand, caught off guard by Peter’s grip.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark. It’s… it’s nice to know someone’s got my back.” Peter’s eyes are full, clear and focused on his. For someone so young, Peter’s expression has a way of making Tony feel like he hasn’t lived half the life the kid has.

Tony wants to say something, to try to express that it’s more than that – that he cares for the kid, as Peter was his own, when May makes her appearance.

Tony relinquishes his position by Peter’s side, letting May fuss over her nephew. He quietly steps back, turning to leave before hearing Peter’s voice ring out.

“You can stay if you’d like.”

Tony stops. Turns to Peter, to May – who gives Tony a warm smile.

“I mean, I know you’re busy and all. You—you don’t have to stay but if you want—”

“Not going anywhere, kid.” Tony interrupts him. “I’ll be right outside. Give your aunt some time to yell at you in private.”

Peter groans as May laughs. “Not that it’s necessary, Stark but I appreciate it.” Tony gives a small wave before walking out.

He walks out of the door then turns to the window, seeing Peter glance over at him – almost to make sure he hadn’t left.

Tony’s heart constricts, a pang of something… not entirely unwelcome running through him.

Maybe he had been wrong before. Maybe the kid wasn’t hiding his pain because he didn’t trust Tony.

Maybe it really was because he didn’t want Tony to get hurt.

As he watched as May spoke softly to him, watched as Peter’s attention turned towards her, Tony finally settled on something within himself.

Maybe Pepper was right. Maybe he couldn’t stop everything, couldn’t always prevent harm from coming to the kid.

The kid glanced over to Tony, offering a small smile. Tony returned it.

Tony was convinced more than ever that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for the kid, nothing he wouldn’t give to keep Peter safe.

Tony could only hope that the kid knew that.

As Peter laughed at something his aunt said, the kid’s smile lighting up the whole damn room, Tony promised himself that if he had to - he’d spend a lifetime proving it to him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I know I'm late to the fanfic game so if this has been done I'm sorry. Right when Infinity War came out, I kept wondering how Peter and Tony's relationship would've been at that time -- I think the timeline suggests that there was about a year or so's difference between Homecoming and Infinity War and you cannot tell me that Tony Stark was NOT involved in Peter's life. 
> 
> Endgame proves that, if anything. 
> 
> Ergo this -- just some IronDad angst on a Saturday. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Come scream at me on [tumblr.](http://seek-rest.tumblr.com)


End file.
